Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity (May 2017)
Role of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors in type I diabetes mellitus
Abstract
Hala Ahmadieh,1 Nisrine Ghazal,2 Sami T Azar3 1Faculty of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Department, Beirut Arab University, 2Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, American University of Beirut, New York, NY, USA Abstract: The burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) in general has been extensively increasing over the past few years. Selective sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were extensively studied in type 2 DM and found to have sustained urinary glucose loss, improvement of glycemic control, in addition to their proven metabolic effects on weight, blood pressure, and cardiovascular benefits. Type 1 DM (T1D) patients clearly depend on insulin therapy, which till today fails to achieve the optimal glycemic control and metabolic targets that are needed to prevent risk of complications. New therapies are obviously needed as an adjunct to insulin therapy in order to try to achieve optimal control in T1D. Many oral diabetic medications have been tried in T1D patients as an adjunct to insulin treatment and have shown conflicting results. Adjunctive use of SGLT2 inhibitors in addition to insulin therapies in T1D was found to have the potential to improve glycemic control along with decrease in the insulin doses, as has been shown in certain animal and short-term human studies. Furthermore, larger well-randomized studies are needed to better evaluate their efficacy and safety in patients with T1D. Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis incidences were found to be increased among users of SGLT2 inhibitors, although the incidence remains very low. Recent beneficial effects of ketone body production and this shift in fuel energetics have been suggested based on the findings of protective cardiovascular benefits associated with one of the SGLT2 inhibitors. Keywords: glycemic control, glycosylated hemoglobin, euglucemic diabetic ketoacidosis, oral antidiabetics
